Teach Us to Pray

Georgia State Mission Community

February 19, 2012

Luke 11: 1-13 NIV

11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

² He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
³ Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.

⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity^[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for^[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Notes

God call us to be bold

Vs. 2 – 4

• Theres an order of prayer
  • Praise your father and his kingdom
    • This results in God’s Will being spread throughout his kingdom
    • Alerts us to be conscious of the Kingdom’s goal
  • Give us each day our daily bread
    • You instruction will be hidden in your needs, not your wants
      • Its difficult to balance wants and needs
  • Forgive us our sins,… For we also forgives everyone who sins against us
    • As you forgive others Christ will forgive you

God is a God of order

• Theres a premeditated order to his instrutction of prayer
• He provides a loose structural guideline

Vs. 8 – 10

• Boldness in request is rewarded, yet there are no entitlements
• Ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and doors will be opened.

Vs. 11 – 13

• You will be given what you ask
• The holy spirit is a gift

Don’t asked with clenched fist.

• You must give up something, in order to make room for what you receive

Word of the Day: obnubilate

Pronunciation: [ob-noo-buh-leyt]

Definition(s): o cloud over; becloud; obscure.

Part of Speech: verb

Sentence: Kids don’t always tell the full truth if they see the possibility of consequences. In other words they obnubilate the truth.

Synonyms: becloud, disguise, misrepresent, obfuscate, shade, shadow

Antonyms: illuminate, loose, reveal

Regain Your Cutting Edge

Bishop Dale C. Bronner
Word of Faith – http://www.woffamily.org/
2/17/2013
II Kings 6:1-7

6 The company of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. ² Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.”

And he said, “Go.”

³ Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?”

“I will,” Elisha replied. ⁴ And he went with them.

They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. ⁵ As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”

⁶ The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. ⁷ “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.

• Until you identify the problem, you cannot solve it
  • A problem well-defined is a problem half-solved
  • a problem can be solved, facts of life can not
• Problems drive us to find solutions
  • Before you find the solution, a problem can make you miserably uncomfortable
  • Discomfort is the thing that motivates change
    • When you grow, the problem will shrink
    • Growth needs finance (input)
      • Complacency=death, the sign of things not growing

Life lessons

• The fear of losing can spoil the joy of using
• When you don’t understand purpose, the result is misuse or disuse
• You can’t fix a problem with a man’s feet until you fix the problem in his head
• What you perceive as a person’s needs is not always synonymous with what he wants
• Charity without treatment is often short lived
  • You cannot fix with money, what should be fixed with prayer and wisdom
• Don’t just observe situations, deduce and learn from them
  • Reflection turns experience into insight

Vs. 3 – wherever you go, carry your leader with you

Vs. 4 – something must come down in order for something else to go up

• Maintain equilibrium
  • The greater the responsibility, the less personal freedom
  • Am I willing to decrease ______ to increase _______

Vs. 5 – mishaps occur whenever you’re building something

• It’s easier to correct a mistake, impossible to correct inaction
  • You can correct something, cant correct nothing

Pray like it’s all left up to God, but work like it’s all up to you. 

• God will give you the foundational tools, but the work is your responsibility
  • You would become weak/spoiled if he did everything for you
  • God doesn’t bless what you pray, he blesses what you do

Your cutting edge is on a ticking time clock

Vs. 6 – go back to the last place you had “it”

1. Clearly defined goals and a plan of execution
   1. The average person has a goal, the elite have a strategy
2. They gather a lot of information
   1. Build on your strengths
3. They learn from others
   1. Mistakes, customer, etc
4. They have good pal on their team
   1. If you can’t afford to hire the best, hire the best and train them
   2. Study an organization, find weaknesses and develop a strategy to address the?
      1. They are courageously creative/innovative
         1. Find and unmet need and meet it
         2. They find an itch and scratch it
            1. They partner with others who have strengths that cover their weaknesses

GO BACK

Vs. 7 – Pick it up YOURSELF!!

• Put a stick to it

If you’re tired of starting over, stop quitting!

Don’t look for others to do for you what you were designed to do for yourself